Twilight: Libby's Story
by kmacdonald
Summary: Elizabeth Swan is the older sister of Isabella, and is very protective of her. When they move to Forks to live with their father, she becomes even more so when she finds that their lives are going to be forever changed, all because she befriends a particular vampire.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I am writing this little fanfic here, about Bella's older sister. I know we've all already read something like this, but I'm hoping that I can do it a little bit different, dare I say better, than some of the others. If you would like to read, then thank you very much. Comments are always muchly appreciated, as they give me an idea of whether you like it or not. I'll even read the flamers, and try to respond to everybody. And, as always, I do not own anything that is Twilight related; I can only claim the existence of the characters that you do not recognize. **

**Leaving on a Jet Plane**

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Mom asked as she was ready to walk out the door. "You can pick out your own luggage."

"Nah," I replied, leaning against the counter. "I'm going to go through my clothes and see what I can bring with me. Not everything that I have is going to work in Forks."

Mom grinned as she eyed the sun dress I was wearing. "Isn't that the truth," she chuckled.

"Alright, I'm ready." Phil walked through the sliding patio door. "Are you coming with us, Libby?"

"She's going to stay here and pack," Mom told him. "I guess she trusts our judgement when it comes to buying her luggage."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not that difficult of a task, Mom. I don't think you can mess it up too bad."

She smiled, and Phil let out a snort. He grinned mischievously at me, and hurried out the door. I heard the car start, and Mom turned to leave, but stopped and frowned at me.

"You know that you don't have to go, you know," she said quietly. "You're old enough to stay by yourself."

I shook my head. This was the third time that my mother and I had had this discussion. "I can't let Bella go by herself, Mom. She would hate me. And besides, I don't mind Forks all that much. Not as much as you and Bella, anyway. It'll be fine. Who knows, it might even be fun!"

Mom smiled at me. "Thank God for you," she said. "You're like a ray of sunshine around here, you know that. It makes me feel better that you're going with her. She needs someone who likes to have fun around."

The horn honked and she hurried out the door. With a sigh, I walked over to shut the door behind her; it was something that she often forgot to do.

As I walked back to my room, I heard a deep, racking sob coming from my sister's bedroom. I stopped, debating whether to go in or not, but decided against it. Bella and I were close, but she liked to be alone when she cried. Instead, I slipped quietly into my own room and began to sort through my clothing. The wall between our rooms wasn't very thick, so I could hear Bella's crying even clearer from my room. I went to my stereo and quickly popped in a Jason Aldean CD, one of my favorites. It drowned her out completely, so I began rooting through my dresser.

By the time that Mom and Phil had got home, it was almost dark outside, and I had gone through both my dresser and my closet and had sorted all of my clothing into three piles; one that was definitely not appropriate for life in Washington, one, very small, pile that consisted mostly of jeans and a few hoodies that I would be taking, and one pile that was a mix of tee shirts and other clothes, mostly dresses, that would make me cold in Forks, but that I absolutely loved and was having a hard time leaving them behind.

Mom knocked on the door and opened it slowly when I called her in. I grinned. Before she and Phil got married and he moved in with us, I used to leave my door open at all times, not caring what state of dress (or undress) I was in. Even though Phil had been living with us for almost a year, I still had trouble remembering that there was a man in the house, and that maybe it wasn't completely appropriate for me to be walking around the house in my underwear.

"Don't worry, I'm dressed," I laughed from my spot on the floor.

"Good," Mom replied. She pushed the door open and she and Phil both came in, carrying three new pieces of luggage. I gasped when I saw them, and jumped up from my spot on the floor. They were all white, hard case luggage, but the fronts were decorated with world flags. There were flags from every country that I wanted to see, including one that I had already been to.

"Oh my God!" I cried, taking one from Mom and dropping it onto the bed to examine it better. "Mom, these are so cool! Thank you!" I jumped at her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Don't thank me!" she laughed as she tried to fend me off. "Phil's the one who picked them out."

I turned to my step-father and hugged him tightly as well. "Thank you so much!"

He laughed as he lifted me off the ground and gave me a tight squeeze, and then set me back on the floor. "I figured that you would like them."

"I love them!"

"Love what?" Bella asked, standing in the doorway. Her face was pink, and it was obvious that she had been crying. I saw the pained look on my mother's face and I could have slapped my sister.

"My new suitcases," I said, pointing at them. "Mom and Phil bought me a new set, so you can have my old ones."

"Oh, thanks," she said dully. Without another word, she turned and walked back to her room.

"Isn't she being a little over dramatic?" Phil asked quietly, so she wouldn't hear him.

"Yes," I replied, the same time my mother said, "No."

We looked at each other and I smiled, but Mom still looked upset. "No, I hate Forks just as much as she does. Maybe I should just stay here, instead."

Phil looked horrified, but I spoke up before he could.

"Mom, Bella and I haven't been to Washington in years. It could have changed a lot," I said, wrapping an arm around her. "I'm sure that when we get settled in, she'll be just fine. Besides, you and Phil didn't even get to go on a honeymoon. Consider this a very late, much extended one."

Phil grinned at me, and I winked back at him. We both knew that I could talk my mother into anything. Already, she was almost completely leaned in Phil's direction. He held a hand out to her and pulled her close to him. She snuggled into his chest, and I grinned.

"See," I said. "Without Bella and I around, think of what you could be doing instead of just snuggling."

Phil's head was thrown back he laughed so hard, but my mother looked horrified. Her face was beet red and she had let her mouth drop open.

"Elizabeth!" she scolded. "I can't believe that you just said that!"

I just grinned. "Well, it's the truth."

"I'm going to go start supper," Phil choked out when he was finally able to stop laughing. "I'll leave you girls to it."

He left the room, still chuckling, while Mom sat down on the floor amid my piles of clothes. I sat down with her.

"You shouldn't say things like that to your mother, you know," she admonished me. I could still hear Phil chuckling in the kitchen, and I smirked.

"I was just telling the truth," I teased her. "Without Bella and me living with you two, you can do your business wherever you feel like it."

"Libby!" Mom's face was beat red. "Now how do you know anything about 'our business'?"

I looked her in the eye, trying to act serious but failing miserably. "Mom, you are a grown woman who is married. Anything that you choose to do with your husband is completely up to you." I began looking through my 'maybe' pile. "And, the walls in this house are paper thin, so I can hear everything at night."

Mom gasped and blushed so deeply that she appeared to be severely sunburnt. She gaped at me with an open mouth for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Don't worry, Mom," I grinned. "I'm sure Bella can't hear anything, and I don't really care. It is your house after all."

"We are done talking about this," she said firmly.

"But really, when we're gone, you can run around naked all the time -"

"So what are you bringing with you?" she asked firmly to change the subject. I chuckled to myself. "Not these, I hope?" She picked up a pair of my old jean cut-offs and I laughed.

"I don't think that those would keep me very warm," I said. "But now that I look at the clothes with my suitcases, I think that I can take almost everything with me."

"Charlie will think that you're staying with him for good!"

"Maybe I will," I mused. "I miss Dad."

Mom looked at me for a moment and then shook her head. "Believe me, when you get there, you're going to want to come straight home again."

I did manage to pack all of my clothes, along with some books, my laptop, camera and toiletries, into my suitcases before supper was ready. Mom and I went to help Phil cook while Bella continued to pack.

The next morning came much too early for my liking. Mom woke me up so that we could go for one more drive around the city while Bella finished her packing, and then we went home, loaded all of our bags into the car, and headed towards the airport.

Bella still hadn't spoken a whole lot, so when we got to the airport, Mom tried to make her feel better.

"Bella, honey, you don't have to do this," she said softly.

"I _want _to go," Bella replied, trying to sound like she was being completely honest. I rolled my eyes at Phil and he had to stifle a laugh; Bella couldn't lie to save her life. I knew she wasn't telling the truth, and so did Mom, but she seemed like she was trying to believe her.

"Tell Charlie I said hi."

"I will."

"I'll see you soon," Mom said. "And you girls can come home any time you want – I'll come right back as soon as you need me."

"Don't worry about us," Bella urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."

Bella and I boarded the plane and took our seats just moments before takeoff. I looked out the window and thought that I could see Mom and Phil standing in the window. I smiled and hummed softly to myself the tune of John Denver's 'Leaving on a Jet Plane'.

It is a four hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, and another hour of flying to the small airport in Port Angeles. Bella spoke, at most, a dozen words the whole way. Even my own usually cheerful mood was starting to get dampened by her foul one. I crossed my arms and leaned my head back against the seat, doing my best to ignore her.

When the plane landed in Port Angeles, my mood began to brighten again. It was raining, of course, and I loved it. It didn't rain often in Phoenix, and it was something that I had missed dearly when I had returned home from Europe during the summer. Also, Dad met us at the airport, and when I saw him, my face cracked into huge grin.

"Hey, you two!" he called, waving at us as we hurried over to him. "How was the flight?"

"It was alright," Belle replied, stiffly hugging him before quickly pulling away.

"It was good," I said, bouncing over to hug him. Dad pulled me close and held me for just a second longer than Bella. "At least it would have been if somebody hadn't decided to become a mute." I shot a dark look at Bella, but she ignored me, and went to look for her bags in the luggage that was now coming down the small conveyer belt.

"Here is mine," Bella said, reaching out to grab one of her two large black suitcases. Dad grabbed the other one before it could get away. "Where are your bags?"

"I don't know," I replied, looking around. "I don't see…oh, there they are!"

My three suitcases came out together on the belt, and I hurried to pull them all off. Somehow, I managed to get a hold on all three, and made my way back to where Dad and Bella stood. Dad looked at me with his mouth hanging open.

"How many clothes did you pack?" he asked a bit weakly.

"Everything that I own," I replied, grinning. I handed him the handle of the largest bag and took the other two firmly in my hands. I was glad that they all came with wheels.

"Half the stuff you own you won't be able to wear here," Bella said as Dad took one of her bags as well. "Why did you bother to bring them?"

"Hey, I can wear whatever I want to!" I replied as we made our way out of the airport and into the cold air outside. I shivered. "If I freeze, than it's my problem."

"Chances are that you will." Bella used her free hand to pull her jacket closer around her.

Dad chuckled as he opened the trunk to the police cruiser. I looked it over and shook my head grimly. I'd have to do something about getting a car; as much as I loved my Dad, there was no way that I was going to be driving around in the backseat of a cop car for too long.

Dad and Bella made small talk, mostly about our mother and her new husband, as we loaded our bags into the trunk of his police cruiser. I could tell that Dad didn't like the idea of Mom being with someone else, and that he wanted us to tell him that he was a horrible person. But I really like Phil, so I didn't say a word.

We were just leaving the parking lot of the airport when Dad turned to Bella. "I found a good car for you, really cheap." He glanced at me in the back seat and smiled. "And for Libby, too, when she gets her licence."

I groaned. Despite Bella being eleven months younger than me, she had got her licence almost a year ago, and I still only had my beginners. I hadn't needed a licence the year before, though.

"I'll have them soon," I said. "I just need to go for my test."

"I'll see what I can do," he told me. "Bob down at the station might do it as a favor to me."

"That'd be great, Dad." I smiled. "Thanks."

"What kind of car?" Bella asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy," Dad replied.

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" Charlie asked.

"No."

"Oh, come on, Bella," I spoke up. "You've got to remember Billy! We used to play with his kids when we were younger. He and Dad used to take us all fishing."

"Oh," she said simply. I could tell that she still had no idea who he was.

"Anyway, he's in a wheelchair now," Billy continued, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?" Bella asked. I could tell from the change in Dad's face that this was the one thing that he'd hoped that she wouldn't ask.

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine – it's only a few years old, really."

Bella eyed him up for a moment, and then continued. "When did he buy it?"

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

"Did he buy it new?" I rolled my eyes. Bella had always been one to need every last detail about something, and it had always bothered me; I liked to be surprised.

"Well, no," he admitted rather sheepishly. "I think it was new in the early sixties – late fifties at the earliest."

The image of me trying to start the engine of a piece of junk truck suddenly popped into my head, and I didn't like it one bit. My resolve to get a job to buy myself a little car firmed.

"Ch – Dad, I don't really know anything about cars," Bella argued. "I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"

"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."

I watched as she thought hard for a moment, and then I butted into the conversation and asked, "How cheap is cheap?"

"Well, I kind of already bought it for you guys." Dad looked back at me in the rear view mirror.

"Really?" I asked excitedly. I didn't really want the truck, but if it was free…

"You didn't have to do that, Dad." Bella said. "I was going to buy myself a car."

"I don't mind. I want you girls to be happy here." Dad was looking straight ahead at the road, not looking at Bella at all, and, as I turned my attention to her, she was doing the same thing.

"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." Her voice seemed distant and insincere, but I knew that is was just because of her apparent unease in sharing her emotions. She was exactly like Dad when it came to that.

"Well, now, you're welcome," he replied embarrassedly.

I watched the two of them from my seat in the back of the car, and shook my head, laughing to myself. There was no denying that Bella was my father's daughter. She might look a lot like Mom, but personality wise, she was the spitting image of our father. Neither one of them seemed to be able to express their emotions without being in extreme discomfort; neither had much to say, and preferred to keep to themselves more often than not. I was nothing like that, which, I suppose, meant that I was more like my mother. I wasn't exactly the most outgoing person in the world, but meeting new people and being in new social situations didn't terrify me the way they seemed to do to my sister. I was completely open with people about how I felt about them; if I loved them, I let them know. If I wasn't so fond of them, they still knew it.

The conversation pretty much petered out at that point. Despite my love of travel, I was always completely exhausted by flights, no matter how long. Bella and Dad didn't seem to have anything else to say, so I turned my attention out the window, and watched the trees go by.

I must have fallen asleep somewhere between Port Angeles and home, because the last thing I remembered, before being shaken lightly by my father, was passing a small strip mall and noticing that they had got some pretty decent stores in since the last time I had been there.

"Wake up, Kitty," Dad said softly. "We're home."

Groggily, I stumbled out of the car and was half way to the house when I remembered my bags. I turned around to go back, only to find Dad walking closely behind me.

"Go on in," he said, nodding up the steps. "I've already taken all the bags in. Bella's upstairs, unpacking her things."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Daddy." I mumbled, turning to stomp up the steps. He followed me inside, and shut the door tightly to keep out the rain that was starting to fall even harder.

"I left your bags just at the top of the stairs," he informed me. "You can go up with Bella and unpack if you'd like, or you can save that for tomorrow."

"I think I'm just going to go to bed," I replied, yawning hugely. "I'm exhausted."

"Busy day?" he asked, shrugging out of his jacket. I noticed that he still had his gun in its holster at his hip.

"Mom had me up early for a drive around the city," I said. "And flying always makes me tired."

He nodded and headed towards the living room. "Alright, kiddo," he said. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Dad."

I hurried up the stairs, stopping to grab a pair of pyjamas and my 'necessities bag' out of one of my suitcases, and slipped into the bathroom to change and brush my teeth before heading to bed. I was absurdly tired, and planned on going directly to bed, but Bella had other plans.

I walked across the hallway to our bedroom and stopped in the doorway, not surprised to see that Bella was crying. She'd been doing it a lot in the past couple of days.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling back the quilt and sliding between the sheets.

"Yeah," she sniffed. "I'm fine. I just really don't want to her here right now."

"It was your idea," I reminded her as I tried to stifle another yawn. "We wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't told Mom that you were missing Dad and thought that it would be a good idea for you to come stay with him."

"I did it for Mom," Bella replied. "You know that she really wants to go be with Phil when he travels." She stopped what she was doing and looked up at me. "Now that I think about it, why are you here? I know for a fact that Mom didn't mind leaving you at home alone while she traveled; you're eighteen."

"Now I couldn't let you come up here all by yourself, now could I?" I responded. "Besides, I really did miss Dad."

"But its _Forks_," Bella said, stressing the name of the town with a hint of disgust in her voice. "Why would you want to come here?"

"I don't hate it here," I murmured, beginning to get even more and more sleepy as the chill that was in the air was starting to fade as I sunk further under the blankets. "It's kind of pretty."

"It's weird," Bella said softly.

I didn't reply. I was beginning to doze off when Bella resumed her crying. It was just a few sniffs at first, but soon it was full out sobs. With a sigh, I threw back the covers, grabbed a pillow and made my way downstairs.

I've always been fairly light on my feet, and I guess that Dad didn't hear me coming down the stairs. The television was turned on, the game playing on the screen, but when I turned the corner into the living room, Dad wasn't sitting on the couch as I'd expected him to be. He was standing in front of the old fireplace, staring at the old pictures of him and Mom when they'd first got married, and the ones taken at the hospital when first I, and then Bella, was born. He slowly ran a finger down my mother's face under the glass, and I immediately felt very uncomfortable. I'd always suspected that Dad had never truly gotten over Mom leaving, and this was my proof. I tried to turn to go back upstairs to deal with Bella's tears for the night without Dad knowing that I was there, but as I turned, I cracked my elbow on the door casing.

"Ouch!" I yelped. "Holy shit cakes!"

Dad's hand dropped from the pictures and he spun on the spot to look at where I was standing. "What are you doing?"

"I hit my elbow!" I whined, trying to bend my arm inwards so I could see if it was red. I couldn't. "Is it red?" I asked, holding it out so he could see it.

"No, it's fine," he said behind a grin. "What are you doing down here? I thought you were going to bed."

"I was, but Bella's being pretty loud up there while she's unpacking," I explained vaguely. There was no way I was going to tell Dad that she was crying; that would just upset him. "Can I sleep down here on the couch tonight?"

"Um, sure," he said slowly, as though he were unsure. "You can if you want to."

"Okay." I picked up my pillow from off the floor and hurried over to the couch. I flopped down on one end of the couch and curled up in a ball to leave room for my father. Dad grabbed a blanket off the back of an old, worn out chair and laid it over top of me.

"There, are you comfy?" he asked before sitting down.

"Yes, very," I replied, smiling. "Thanks, Dad."

He smiled back at me, and then sat down on the other end of the couch to watch the game. Bella's sobs may have been keeping me awake, but the game on television was like a lullaby; I was out in minutes.

A dim, white light was what woke me the next morning. I opened my eyes and looked out the window to see the sun, a morning ritual of mine, but I couldn't see it. In fact, I couldn't see anything. It looked as though the house was surrounded by clouds, but I knew that it was just fog, although I hadn't seen any for several months. It was too dry in Arizona for there to be fog.

I got up off the couch at the same time that I heard Dad coming down the stairs. He stuck his head into the living room and laughed as I stretched awkwardly.

"Good morning, sunshine," he grinned. "You're looking real pretty this morning."

I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh again, and walked by. I knew that I was a mess; I always looked horrible in the morning, with my hair tangled into a nest on top of my head and my eyes red and watery.

I met Bella at the top of the stairs as she was coming out of the bathroom. She looked as though she had been up crying all night. I felt slightly bad for her, but at the same time, I figured that this would be good for her.

Half hour later, I was showered, dressed and ready to go to school. I checked myself over in the mirror once more, making sure that I looked okay, and then grabbed my school bag and hurried down the stairs. I walked right into a room of awkward.

Dad and Bella were sitting across from one another at the table, each silently eating their breakfasts, not looking at one another. I cringed at the tenseness in the air.

"Well, aren't we a talkative bunch, huh?" I asked, skipping over to the counter. I grabbed a Pop Tart from the cupboard, an apple from the fridge, and a glass of water. I sat in the chair between the two of them. "What are the plans for today, Dad?"

"Well, I'm off to work," he replied. "I'll be done around five, so I should be home shortly after that unless something exciting happens at work."

"Not likely," I heard Bella mumble. I kicked her unnoticeably under the table, hoping that Dad hadn't heard her.

"Oh, okay."

"Why, were you planning something special?" he asked.

"No, nope," I replied, smiling brightly at him. "I was just wondering."

"Oh, okay." Nobody said anything for another moment, and then Dad stood up. "Well, I'd better be on the road. Have a good day at school, girls."

"You too, Dad," I said. "At work, though, not school."

He grinned at me, and then hurried out the door.

"We should probably get going, too," Bella said, standing up. She dumped the remainder of her soggy cereal down the drain and turned to look at me. "I don't want to be late for our first day."

I nodded and got up from the table. I dumped my water into the sink, picked up my bag, snatched my apple off the table, and followed Bella out the front door. I stopped on the top step as I saw what was waiting for us in the driveway.

"Is that it?" I asked, snorting with laughter. "That's our truck?"

"Yep," Bella replied, edging past me. "Now let's go."

In my state of fatigue the night before, I hadn't noticed the big, old, rusty red truck with bulbous fenders that was sitting in the driveway. Now that I was awake, I wondered how in the Hell had I missed it.

I hurried across the yard and got to the truck before Bella, who was still inching her way over so she wouldn't fall. I pulled open the door, with a bit of difficulty, and hopped into the passenger's seat. Bella climbed in carefully, and when she gunned the engine to life, I let out another peal of laughter. The truck sounded more like a tank coming to life.

We drove on the highway for just a couple of minutes before Bella began to slow down. I looked out the window and saw why; we had just passed a sign that read "Forks Senior High". I looked at the collection of buildings for a moment, frowning a bit. It didn't look like a school.

Bella pulled in and parked in front of the office. She opened her door and hopped out. "Are you coming?"

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Getting directions," she replied, and shut the door. I quickly unbuckled and followed her into the building.

The office was warm, for which I was thankful. Even with my warmer clothes, I was freezing. It looked as though the lighter clothes that I had brought with me wouldn't be seeing the light of day for a long time yet. The office was also almost completely empty, occupied by a single red-haired woman. She looked up at us as we walked through the door.

"Can I help you girls?" she asked, looking over the top of her glasses at us.

"I'm Isabella Swan," Bella said softly, walking up to the counter. "And this is Elizabeth."

I didn't expect that to help the woman at all, but it seemed to. Her face lit up, and she smiled brightly as she got up from her chair and came to help us.

"Of course," she said. She rifled through a stack of papers for a moment, and then handed us each a small bundle. "These are your schedules, and a map of the school," she explained. She went through our schedules with us, highlighting the fastest way to each class. "And this form here is for your teachers to sign. You can bring it back here to me at the end of the day. Think you can handle that, girls?"

"I don't think it will be a problem," I smiled at her. "Thank you."

We walked back outside, and Bella headed to the truck. I didn't follow, but started to make my way down the sidewalk.

"Are you not coming with me?" she asked, stopping with her hand on the door handle.

"No, my first class is just in the next building," I told her, pointing at the building in question. "I'll see you at lunch."

She nodded and got back into the truck, and I kept walking.

I checked the paper in my hand to make sure I was in the right spot, and then hurried into the building. The History room was already full, and when I walked in, everyone stopped their conversations mid-sentence and turned in their seats to stare at me, even the teacher. I stood in the doorway and grinned at them all.

"Good morning," I said, walking to the teacher. "I'm Elizabeth Swan."

"Oh, we know who you are," he replied, taking my sheet from me and signing it. "We've been waiting all week for the Swan girls to arrive."

"You don't look like you're from Arizona," called a very bold boy from the back of the room.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I'll try harder tomorrow."

He shot me a funny look, and then grinned. "I think I'm going to like you."

"I'm sorry," the teacher, whose name (Mr. Walsh) was on a desk plate, said, handing me a text book. "But I'm going to have to ask you to go sit beside that moron."

"It's not a problem," I laughed.

I turned and walked down the aisle, stopping at the only empty seat in the room. I dropped my bag on the floor beside it and slipped into the desk. I shrugged my jacket off and hung it on the back of my chair, and then dug through my school bag to get a binder and a pen. When I looked up again, I saw that all of the people in the seats around me had turned around to look at me.

"Hello," I said with a half-smile.

"Hi." The same boy who has spoken to me before was the only one who replied. "I'm Tyler Crowley."

"Libby Swan," I replied, smiling brightly at him.

"Are you and your sister twins?" he asked.

"No," I replied, opening my binder and dating the first page. "We're not."

Even though I had looked down, I could tell that my answer surprised them all. Tyler frowned, trying to work it out, but couldn't. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"I spent my junior year in Germany on an exchange," I told him, looking up again. "So I had to redo it when I got home."

"Oh, that's really cool!" one of the girls beside me said. I looked around at her, and she immediately dropped her gaze, blushing madly.

"Alright, guys," Mr. Walsh said, bringing the class to order. "Leave poor Miss Swan alone. We've got work to do."

Mr. Walsh was a no-crap kind of guy. Even though it was my first day, he didn't coddle me in the least bit. There was a test on Monday, on the French Revolution, and he told me that I would be taking it with the rest of the class. I had already studied the Revolution in Phoenix, so I was perfectly okay with it.

The rest of class passed without anything of much interest, and at the end of the lesson, I got out my schedule and map once again.

"What's that?" Tyler asked, nodding at the map.

"It's a map," I said slowly, wondering if there was something else that it could possibly be.

"Oh, I can show you to your next class if you want," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's no problem," he replied. He picked up my bag for me. "I'll even be nice and carry your books, too."

"Thanks," I laughed, pulling my jacket back on.

We walked outside together in silence, me shivering in the cold.

"Are you cold?" he asked, looking surprised. "It's actually kind of warm today."

"You try coming from the middle of the desert to all the way up here," I scoffed. "It never gets this cold in Phoenix."

"Wow, that must be nice, having all that sun."

"Yeah," I replied, doing my best to avoid as many puddles as possible. I knew there was something that I had forgotten to pack; I didn't have my rubber boots. "It would be nicer if I didn't burn so easily."

He nodded, and didn't say anything for a minute. We were almost to the building where my next class took place when he spoke again.

"So, you're Chief Swan's daughter, huh?"

I nodded. "Yup."

"Do you think he'd let his little girl go to the movies this weekend?" he sounded a little nervous, and I felt bad.

"I don't think so," I replied gently. "I think he'd want me to get to know someone a little bit before going out with them."

"Oh. Oh, right, okay." Now he seemed very embarrassed. He handed my bag back to me by the shoulder strap. "Well, here you are. Did you want me to meet you after class?"

"No, that's alright," I said. "I have Gym next; I think I can manage to find it. Thanks, though."

"Yeah, no problem." He turned and jogged back across the yard. I turned and went inside. As I stood in the doorway, everyone turned to stare at me. I sighed, and put on a smile. This was going to be a long day.

Geography went by almost exactly like History had, with one exception. Mrs. Morris seemed to think that because I was new that I wouldn't know anything. I was a little annoyed by this; I was probably better at the subject than she was. I didn't have long to dwell on it, though. As soon as her back was turned, I was once again bombarded with questions.

Geography was usually my favorite class, but by the end of the lesson, I was more than ready for it to be over. I gathered my things together quickly, trying to get out the door without anyone stopping me, but I was not quick enough.

"Hey," said a tall, dark haired boy. "Do you need help finding your next class?"

"No, actually I'm heading to Gym," I replied. I hoped that I would have a few minutes to myself to gather my thoughts together. I had forgotten how overwhelming going to a new school could be; it hadn't seemed nearly this bad when I'd gone to Germany.

"Oh, cool; me too!"

I groaned inwardly, but smiled brightly at him anyway. We walked together out of the classroom and out into the cold air. This time I managed to fight back a shiver. The boy, whose name I still didn't know, talked my ear off. I was amazed that anyone could speak so quickly, and still make sense with what they were saying. He stopped only when we got inside the gym and he had to go get changed.

"I'll see you in class!" he called, waving to me.

I waved back, and turned around, almost knocking into a large man.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized. "I didn't see you there."

"Are you Elizabeth Swan?" he asked, ignoring my apology.

"Yes."

"Alright, let's find you a uniform."

I followed him into his office, where he began rooting through a set of cupboards. He looked me over quickly, making my slightly uncomfortable, but then turned and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, both with the Forks High logo on them. I checked the sizes, and both seemed about right.

"Alright, you can just watch for today," he said, ushering me back out of the office. "Tomorrow you can join in with class."

I nodded in agreement, and went to sit on the bleachers.

The class was playing volleyball today, and I wished that I could have joined them. It was one of my favorite sports, and I was pretty good at it, too. I had been on the all-star team in Phoenix in my freshman and sophomore years.

For the first little while, I just watched the group on the court in front of me with amusement. It seemed as though they didn't play very often; everyone was very stiff and missed the ball a lot. Everyone, that is, except for two people.

In the far court, I watched in awe as the ball continuously sailed over the net. I frowned as I watched the match. Each team had five players, but only one from each side was actually playing the sport, everyone else was standing back and watching.

The girl was small, almost child-like, with short dark hair, and the boy who she was playing against was tall and lean, with a mess of reddish-brown hair. Both had incredibly pale skin, and both seemed to move effortlessly across the court as they tapped the ball to the other.

"Amazing, aren't they?"

I realized that my mouth was hanging open and I closed it quickly, turning to look at Coach Clapp, who was sitting beside me.

"Yeah," I replied, turning my gaze back to the game. "Who are they?"

"Those are the Cullens," he informed me. "Alice and Edward."

I didn't say anything else, but continued to watch them the entire class. They were graceful, they were poised, and they were stunningly beautiful. They couldn't be human.

I watched them all class, stunned by how good they were. I had seen many amazing players before (our school had made it to nationals), but none of them compared to these two. They were unbelievable.

Finally class ended, and I began to make my way to the cafeteria for lunch.

"Hey!" I heard someone call from behind me. "Hey, Swan!"

I stopped and turned to look behind me. The tall dark-haired boy who I had walked to class with was waving wildly at me, running to catch up.

"Hey," I said, smiling at him.

"Hey." He stopped in front of me. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me and some friends for lunch."

"What was your name again?" I asked him.

"Luke," he replied. "Luke Weber."

"Okay, then, Luke," I said. "Sure, I'll sit with you. Thanks."

He nodded, still smilingly, and we took off to the cafeteria.

I had gathered together my food and was sitting at the table between Luke, who I had just realized was in all three of my morning classes, and his friend Monica when I remembered that I had promised Bella that I would sit with her. I scanned the crowded cafeteria, and saw her sitting with a group of people who I didn't know. I smiled and sat down; it was good to see her making friends.

The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly, and at the end of the day, I made my way to the parking lot with several escorts.

"Hey, Libby," said Eric, one of the boys who I had sat with at lunch. "Do you need a ride home or anything?"

"Oh, no thanks," I replied, smiling brightly at him. "I'm going home with Bella."

"Oh, yeah," he nodded. "She was in my English class this morning. You guys look a lot alike."

Bella and I had some similarities in appearance, but we also had some major differences. While my sister stood at an average height, about five foot four, I was on the short side; I barely reached the five foot mark. We both had the same skin tone, and the basically the same hair colour (mine had a bit more red in it than hers did), but Bella's hair gently waved, and mine was a mass of unruly curls. She had our father's chocolate brown eyes, but mine were a very bright bluish-green, almost aquamarine.

I nodded. "Yep, we get that a lot. Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I waited by the truck for Bella to show up. As the parking lot quickly emptied, I wondered what was taking her so long. And then I remembered the form that I was supposed to bring to the office. Groaning, I dropped my bag to the ground and dug through it until I found the form. I threw my bag into the bed of the truck and took off running towards the office. I rounded the corner at a slow jog, and ran straight into someone, hard.

"Ouch!" I hit hard and was knocked to the ground. I looked up and saw Edward Cullen glaring down at me.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and then hurried away, leaving me sitting on the ground.

"Well that was rude," I commented, picking myself up off the cold, wet pavement. I reached out to open the door, but before I could even touch the doorknob, it was pulled inward, revealing a very cranky looking Bella.

"There you are!" she exclaimed. Her eyes roamed over my soaking wet jeans and muddy jacket and she frowned. "What happened to you?"

"I collided with Edward Cullen outside and fell into a puddle," I replied, slipping into the building and out of the rain. "I don't care how pretty that boy is, he is very rude!"

Bella's face flushed bright red and she mumbled something about getting the truck and left. I leaned against the desk and smiled at the secretary, who was looking over my sister's form.

"Well, that all seems to be in order," she said, looking up and taking my sheet from me. "How was your day, honey?"

"It was great," I replied tonelessly. "Everyone is really nice."

"That's nice," she replied absently.

I left and jumped into the truck, which Bella had moved to just outside the front door. I looked at her, and noticed that she looked like she was in a horrible mood. Not wanting to bring myself down, I stayed silent the entire ride home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Live While We're Young**

I woke up the next morning in a dour mood. Bella and I had to share a bed, and she had kept me up late because she'd wanted to get ahead on her homework. I usually didn't have a problem falling asleep with the light on, but for some reason, I couldn't make myself drift off.

I woke up late, as a result, and didn't have time for a shower or breakfast. I threw my clothes on and brushed my teeth quickly, and then ran outside to get in the truck. Bella was waiting for me, and she glared at me as I jumped in.

"You're going to make us late for class," she said, looking at her watch.

"I'm sorry," I growled, fastening my seatbelt as she eased out onto the street. "If you would have woken me when you got up, I wouldn't have slept in so late."

"I tried to wake you up," she argued, not taking her eyes off the road. "And you just told me to leave you alone. So I did."

"I was tired," I yawned widely. "If you hadn't been up all night studying, I wouldn't be so tired today."

Bella sighed heavily, but didn't reply. I crossed my arms over my chest and turned to stare out the window. I was usually in a good mood, but when I was tired, I was a complete crank.

We arrived at school with just enough time for me to dash across the yard and slip through the classroom door just seconds before the bell rang. Mr. Walsh gave me a pointed look.

"Cutting it a bit close this morning, aren't we?" he stated as I made my way to my seat.

"Yes sir," I replied, sitting down heavily. "I'm sorry."

He nodded and started the lesson. I quickly pulled out my books and began to take notes.

"You barely made it in time!" Luke said as we walked out of the building after class. I looked at the sky, which was still spitting water at me. I pulled up my hood.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "I woke up late this morning; Bella was up all night working on homework."

"Yeah, I always leave mine until the last minute, too."

"Oh, no," I explained. "Bella just doesn't have a life, so she likes to get ahead on all her work. She'll be starting her senior year's workload in a month or so."

"So, what do you two not get along?"

"No," I sighed, shaking my head. "We do; I'm just really cranky when I don't get enough beauty sleep."

"I think you get plenty of that," he laughed.

I snorted, and we hurried off to class together.

Since I hadn't had time to eat before we left the house, I was starving by the time gym class rolled around. My stomach growled loudly as I changed, and Monica and a couple of the other girls laughed until I shot them all a dirty look. I was pulling off my tee shirt when I saw Alice Cullen walking by me, fully dressed for class. _How did she change so fast? _I wondered as I pulled my uniform top over my head. I was one of the first into the change rooms.

I was pretty excited to get back on the court. My excitement was short-lived. I was placed on a court with a group of girls who didn't want to play, and two boys who were more than happy to leave them out of the game. Every time a ball came my way, the one that was on my team would jump in my way and hit it back over the net. I was getting extremely annoyed.

Finally, I decided that I needed to put my foot down and force myself into the game. The tall, dark-haired jock on the other side of the net smashed the ball, and without waiting for the brute on my team to run for it, I took two quick steps forwards and jumped up in front of the net to block it with my two hands. The ball hit my fingers and I flicked my wrists, sending it back to their side, where it landed in the center of the court. Both guys stared at me open mouthed, and I smiled sweetly at them.

"It's my serve, I think," I said, opening my hands for the ball.

One of the girls rolled it under the net to me, and I scooped it up. I moved back to the wall, far behind the serve line, and held the ball in one hand, weighing it. I bounced it three times in my hand, and then tossed it up in the air and smashed it over the net. The big jock dived to hit it, but missed.

"Good serve, Swan," Coach Clapp called from the bleachers. I smiled at the praise, and then set myself up for my second serve. It, and the third one, sailed over the net and bounce off the floor.

"Alright," Coach Clapp called loudly, blowing his whistle to get everyone's attention. "Time to switch it up a bit." He directed which teams where to go, and then sat back down. We moved down to the court that we were assigned to, and I noticed that we were playing against the team that Alice Cullen was on. I also noticed, for the first time, that Edward wasn't in class.

I waited at the back of the court and watched as Alice served the ball. It was headed directly for the guy on my team, but instead of bumping it like I expected him to, her jumped quickly out of the way and let it bounce on the floor. I glared at him as one of the girls rolled the ball back under the net. She served again, a nice, easy underhand serve, and again, he moved out of the way.

I was severely annoyed that he was just standing there. I assumed it was because he was trying to be nice to her and let her win; she was very beautiful, so maybe he was trying to get her attention. Even if that was the case, I wasn't going to just stand there and let our team lose, so when Alice served the ball and the brute moved out of the way, I dove forward and hit it back to her. She seemed surprised, but recovered quickly enough to spike the ball back.

For the next twenty minutes, Alice and I hit the ball back and forth, completely ignoring everyone else in the gym. Actually, for a short while, I forgot that they were there, or even where I was. All I was focused on was not letting the ball hit the floor. Even when the ball was clearly out of bounds, neither of us let it drop; we dove to keep it in play instead.

I was beginning to tire and my entire body was drenched in sweat, but my competitive nature refused to allow me to stop. I dove and jumped, ignoring my screaming muscles and the stinging in my hands and forearms. Finally, though, my knees buckled and I dropped to the ground, missing the ball by inches. My head fell forward and I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath. When I opened them again, I saw a pair of small feet directly in front of me. I looked up and saw that Alice Cullen was standing there, smiling with her hand stuck out to help me up. I took it, and nearly pulled away from her; her hand was freezing cold. I didn't though, and she hauled me to my feet; I was surprised at how strong she seemed to be.

"That was a good game," she said in a musical voice. "I've never played that long with anyone before; you're really good."

"I'm good!" I gasped, holding a stitch in my side. "That was insane; I've never seen anything like that before. You're not even sweating!"

"I've been playing for a long time," she said, waving away my praise. The bell rang to signal the end of class, and we began making our way back to the changing rooms. "You're Elizabeth Swan, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "It's just Libby, though. I don't know what Mom was thinking giving me such an old-fashioned name like 'Elizabeth'. It's horrible."

Alice laughed, and I couldn't get over how pretty it sounded, almost like bells. I smiled back at her and quickly pulled off my tee. It was drenched with sweat, and stuck to me as I peeled if off my damp skin. My shorts were similar, and my skin was so sticky that it took me a moment to pull my jeans and sweater back on. By the time that my head popped through its hole in my shirt, most of the class had already left. The only other one in the dressing room was Alice. She sat patiently on the bench beside me, watching as I swiped deodorant under my arms and gave myself a couple sprays of body spray.

"There," I said, stowing them back in my bag. "I hope that makes me smell a little bit better."

Alice grinned. "You smell great."

I shook my head, grinning, and picked up my bag. Alice followed me out of the change room.

"So, how do you like it here in Forks?" she asked as we made our way to the cafeteria.

"It's okay," I said slowly. "I can't lie, I used to hate it here when I was young, but I've decided to try it again, and this time, I kind of love it. I've only been here for two days, though; ask me next week, and my answer might be different."

She laughed again. "It must be very different from Phoenix."

"You have no idea," I said. "It's so cold and wet here. Back home, I would be walking around in shorts and a tank top right now. Instead, I'm in a pair of jeans, which are still too thin, and a sweater and a jacket." I pulled my jacket more tightly around me and shivered.

"Well, it is still early in the year," Alice reminded me. "Wait until the summer comes before you start to make your judgements."

I nodded in agreement. The smell of lasagna, the day's lunch, wafted across the lawn from the cafeteria as someone opened the door and slipped inside, and my stomach growled loudly. I looked down at it, and Alice squealed with laughter.

"Hungry, are you?" she asked, still giggling.

"Starved," I admitted. "I didn't have time to eat this morning."

I pulled the door open and stood back for Alice to go through first. She thanked me, and started to walk towards a table in the corner.

"I'll see you later, Alice," I called to her. She turned around, without stopping walking, and waved to me. I hurried to get in line to get my lunch.

Bella and the girls that she had been sitting with the day before were now crowded around a table with Eric and Luke and the rest of the people that I had sat with the day before. I didn't think that there would be room for me to sit, but when he saw me walking towards them, Luke shoved over, just far enough for me to squeeze in between him and my sister.

I listened in as Mike, a cute baby-faced boy with spiky blonde hair, spoke very animatedly about a trip to the beach that the group was planning. Bella was sitting quietly beside me, pretending to be listening to what was being said, but she was sitting very tensely and every now and then, she would raise her head a fraction of an inch and look to the far corner. I followed her gaze and saw that she was watching the table that Alice had gone to sit at. There were three other people who I did not know.

"Who are they?" I asked Luke. I nodded towards the table that Bella was looking at.

He looked into the corner and frowned. "That's the Cullens," he replied. "You know Alice, of course, and that's her brother, Emmett. The blondes are Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They all live with Dr. Cullen and his wife, just outside of town somewhere."

"Oh, okay." I nodded. "We haven't met Dr. Cullen yet, but I'm sure that we'll be seeing him sometime in the near future, won't we Bella?"

My sister turned bright red and glared at me. I smiled sweetly back at her.

"So, beach," Mike said, turning the attention back to him. "Are you guys interested?" He was watching Bella, but she looked like she wasn't paying attention, so I answered.

"Yeah, for sure. We're in." I loved the beach; it was one of the things that I really loved here in Washington. Being in the middle of the desert, there weren't any beaches, so I didn't often get to go swimming. The only time I got to see the ocean was when Bella and I vacationed in California with our dad every summer.

"I don't know," Bella said softly. "Isn't a little cold for the beach?"

"We'd love to go to the beach," I said firmly, raising an eyebrow at her. "Wouldn't we, Bella?"

She looked at me and I glared back at her until she nodded. "Yeah, it sounds like fun," she said.

"Cool."

The conversation changed and turned to gossip, so I turned my attention to my food. The lasagna was hot, and I scalded my throat when I swallowed, but I didn't slow down until all of my food was gone from my tray. Luke sniggered as he watched me pick up the crumbs from my garlic bread, but I ignored him; I was too hungry to care about good manners.

All too soon, the bell rang, and I had to head to class. I dumped what was left on my tray into the trash and hurriedly left the cafeteria.

At the end of the day, I met Bella by the truck. She was walking slowly, as she usually did, and I had been waiting for her for nearly ten minutes.

She walked slowly across the parking lot, watching carefully for moving vehicles, and slid into the truck. She pulled her hood down and sighed before putting the key in the ignition and turning it. The explosive roar that came from the truck was embarrassing, and I covered my face with my hand, smiling. Bella's face flushed bright red as people turned to look at us, but she didn't say a word as she backed out of her parking space and pulled into the line of cars waiting to exit the school's lot. She gazed out the window as we waited, staring at a shiny silver Volvo. The Cullens were standing around it. Alice turned and waved when she saw me looking, and I waved back, smiling at her. The tall blonde girl, Rosalie, shot a glare at us before climbing into the car's passenger seat. Bella's face reddened even more, and she turned back to facing forward, refusing to look at them as we passed. She seemed extremely relieved when we were finally free of the school.

Bella dropped me off at home, and then left again. She was going to do the grocery shopping, something that I loathed. I took the key out of the eaves and unlocked the door.

It was quiet inside, as I was the only one at home. It was nice; I could turn on some music and do my own thing for a little while without being disturbed. I plugged my iPod into the radio/dock that I had installed in the kitchen, and settled down to do some homework.

It was dark outside, and the rain lashed against the windows, but inside the kitchen, it was warm and bright. The music was turned loudly, and I was dancing wildly around the room, my homework forgotten on the table.

"Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy 'til we see the sun," I sang loudly, and very off-key. I danced around, swinging my hair in a large circle. "I know we only met but let's pretend its love! And never, never, never stop for anyone! Tonight let's get some, and live while we're young!"

The song ended, and I heard clapping from the doorway. Bella was standing there, a grin spread over her face, cheering me on.

"How long have you been there?" I asked, going extremely red in the face.

"Long enough," she replied. "Now if you're done, can you come help me with the groceries?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied. I pulled on my sneakers and ran outside to help her, forgetting exactly how cold and wet it was. "Holy crap; it's freezing out here!"

"You should have put your jacket on," Bella admonished, handing me a bag from the back of the truck. It was soaking wet, and almost slipped out of my hand when she let go.

"You should have put them in the cab with you, Bells," I said, grabbing another one. "These are all wet now."

"I know," she replied. "I didn't even think about it until I was almost home."

It took us several trips to bring everything into the house, and when Bella shut the door behind her, I kicked off my shoes and dropped the last bag on the floor.

"I'm going to change," I said, pulling off my shirt as I spoke. "I'm soaking wet."

"Libby!" Bella cried. "Don't strip in the kitchen! What if Charlie came home?"

I rolled my eyes and hurried upstairs to continue changing. It was something that I had a hard time getting used to, having men around. For years, it had been just Mom, Bella and I, and I could walk around in my bra and underwear all I wanted. When Phil moved in, he often caught a glimpse of me wearing very little, but he didn't seem to mind, and Mom never said anything about it. Living with Dad was going to be completely different; I knew that he would be horribly embarrassed if he caught me in my underclothes.

I pulled a pair of thick flannel pyjama pants on, and a baggy University of Arizona hoodie over my tank top. I changed into a pair of thick fleece socks, and hurried back down the stairs.

Bella had finished putting the groceries away, and was now starting supper, steak and baked potatoes. I grabbed my books and moved to the living room; I was going to try to finish my homework before Dad got home. Bella went upstairs, and a moment later I heard her laugh. I dropped what I was doing and went to see what was so funny.

"Look at this," she said when I walked into the room. I looked over her shoulder and saw the e-mails from our mother.

_Bella, _Mom wrote. _Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you and Libby already. Tell her to e-mail me. I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi, and to tell Libs that she owes him fifty dollars, I'm not sure what for. _

_Mom_

I groaned as I finished reading. I owed him fifty bucks; that meant that Phil's best friend's girlfriend hadn't been cheating on him after all, and that her baby was his. I sighed, and Bella went to the next e-mail. I noticed that it had been sent eight hours after the first one.

_Bella, _she wrote. _Why haven't you e-mailed me yet? What are you waiting for?_

_Mom_

Bella went to the next one, from this morning, and I read:

_Isabella,_

_If I haven't heard from either you or your sister by 5:30 today, then I am calling Charlie._

Bella checked the clock, groaned, and then began typing.

_Mom, _she wrote. _Calm down. I'm writing now. Don't do anything rash._

_Bella_

She sent the e-mail, and then immediately began another one.

_Mom,_

_Everything is great. Of course it's raining. I was waiting for something to write about. School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch. Libby is making lots of friends, too. Your blouse is at the dry cleaners – you were supposed to pick it up on Friday. Charlie bought us a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which is good, you know, for me. I miss you, too, and so does Libby. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my e-mail every five minutes. Relax, breathe. I love you._

_Bella_

She was about to hit send, but I stopped her.

"Tell her to tell Phil that I'll give him the money the next time I see him," I instructed her. She nodded and typed it, and then hit send.

"You know as well as I do that she'll be okay, Bella," I said, noticing her worried face. "She's got Phil to take care of her now; it's your turn to be the kid."

"I guess so," she said slowly.

I patted her shoulder and left the room.

Dad arrived home just as I was finishing my homework. I heard Bella thumping down the stairs. She and Dad talked for a couple of minutes in the kitchen, and then Dad sauntered into the living room.

"Hey, Kitty," he greeted me. "What are you doing?"

"Just finished my homework, Dad," I replied, ignoring his use of my childhood nickname. He'd started calling me that when I was just a baby, as any noise that I made sound more like a cat's meow than any form of human speech. "How was work?"

"Pretty much the same as always," he replied, flopping down onto the couch. He turned the game on, and I crawled up onto the couch from my spot on the floor to watch it with him. Half hour later, Bella came into the living room.

"Supper is ready," she said.

Charlie and I jumped up off the couch at the same time and raced to the kitchen. I hadn't realized until I smelled the steak broiling, but I was starving.

"Smells good, Bells," Dad commented we sat at the table.

We ate in silence for a couple of minutes; I was too concerned with filling my face, and neither Bella nor Dad was overly social people.

"How was school today?" Dad asked while he was filling his plate for the second time. "Are you girls making any friends?"

"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica," Bella said. "I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice."

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid – nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here." Dad nodded to himself and then turned to me. "How about you, Libs?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I agree with Bella; everyone's been really nice. We sit with the same group at lunch time, and they invited us to go to the beach with them."

Bella frowned for a moment, and then looked at Dad. "Do you know the Cullen family?" she asked hesitantly.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

"They…the kids…are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."

I don't think the either Bella or I were expecting our father's angry reaction.

"People in this town," he muttered darkly. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world and make ten times the salary he gets here." He continued, getting louder with every word he spoke, "We're lucky to have him – lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature – I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should – camping trips every other weekend…Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."

I sat with my mouth hanging open for a moment as Dad continued to eat. It was the longest speech that I had ever heard my father make; he must feel very strongly about whatever people were saying.

Bella quickly tried to fix what she had said. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed that they kept to themselves."

"The little one is really nice," I put in. "Alice. We played volleyball together today, and then we walked to the cafeteria together. She's really friendly."

Dad nodded to me approvingly.

"They're all very attractive." Bella added it on as though it was an afterthought, and I smirked.

"You should see the doctor," Dad laughed, suddenly in a much better mood. "It's a good thing that he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."

After supper Dad went back into the living room to watch more TV while Bella and I cleaned up after supper, and then Bella went upstairs to work on her homework. I picked up a book that I was reading and went into the living room, and settled into the chair to read for the rest of the evening.

The rest of the week went by without incident, and both Bella and I were settling in nicely to our school schedules. As I continued to get to know our group of lunch mates, I was quickly deciding which ones I liked and which ones I didn't. One of the girls, Lauren Mallory, was one of the rudest people I had ever met, and that included all of the rich kids that I went to school with in Phoenix. Jessica Stanley, who was starting to be pretty good friends with my sister, was fake, and I hated that. I didn't believe a word she said. Angela Weber, who turned out to be Luke's cousin, was possibly the sweetest person I had ever met, and it was impossible to not like her. Most of the guys were pretty fun, and I'd always got along better with boys better than girls, anyway. The only problem I had with any of the guys at all was that Tyler didn't seem to understand that I wasn't interested, and was continually asking me out. It annoyed me a lot, but he was funny at the same time, so I didn't quite know what to do with him. I would have to ask Brigit the next time I spoke to her; she was used to these kinds of problems.

Alice Cullen was something different completely. All week, she and I continued to talk at school, and I was really starting to like her, but I didn't really know her. She was extremely secretive, barely telling me anything about herself or her family. Anytime that I questioned her about them, she gave me a vague answer, and then she changed the subject. I wasn't sure what to think.

The weekend came, and without the distraction of school, I felt like I was going insane. Back home I'd had a job and some friends that I would hang out with at the mall or the park, or something. Here, I had no job, there was no mall anywhere near, and it was too cold and wet to spend too much time outside. Dad, who wasn't used to spending much time at home, worked all weekend, and Bella did nothing but clean the house and do homework. She spoke to me a bit, but I could tell that she was preoccupied with something. We did take a drive around town on Saturday, stopping at the library so Bella could get a card, which she didn't.

We returned home, Bella complaining about how poorly stocked the library was, and I changed into my pyjamas. It was raining, of course, and I had decided that it was the perfect day to catch up on some reading. It was a murder mystery sort of story about a young woman who moved to a remote town. The similarities between her and I were a little unnerving, but it was a good story, so I read it anyway.

I curled up on the bed I shared with my sister and let the book fall open to where I had marked it, and got lost in the story.

"Hey."

My head shot up and I let out a little scream. I had just gotten to a part of the book where the girl was being stalked, and she was sure that there was someone in the house with her. Bella gave me a funny look. She was standing in the door way, watching me.

"What?" I asked a bit too sharply.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"Yes," I replied. "I'm just reading a book." I held it up so she could see.

Bella scoffed at me. "Why do you read those books if they scare you so much? You know you're not going to be able to sleep tonight, now."

"I know," I replied. "But they're just so good."

"I've been calling you down for supper for almost ten minutes," she replied, shaking her head. "Come and eat before it gets cold."

"Alright." I put the book down on the bedside table and hurried out of the room behind my sister. There was no way that I was going to be walking around the house by myself.

Monday at school was basically the same as all the previous week. I went to class, sat with the same group at lunch, and was quickly becoming close to several people, Alice included. We talked more and more in gym class, which seemed to baffle most people. It seemed as though most of them had never had a conversation with the girl, and wondered how I managed to be her friend so quickly.

I was starting to really like living in Forks.

When I walked into the gymnasium, I saw that Alice had already changed for class. I undressed as quickly as I could and hurried out of the locker room. I was surprised to see that Alice was standing with Edward. I was beginning to think that he had dropped out or something.

"Hey, Alice!" I called.

She waved, but seemed to be in deep conversation with her brother, so I stopped and walked over to where Luke was talking to a pretty girl that I didn't really know.

"You not hanging out with Alice?" he asked when I stood beside him.

"Good luck with that," the girl sneered. "Now that she's got one of her own to talk to, she won't bother with you anymore. You're not good enough for them. None of us are."

"What the Hell is your problem?" I snapped, glaring at her. "What have the Cullens ever done to you?"

She gaped at me with wide eyes. "Well, nothing," she stuttered, "but-"

"But what?" I asked. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with them. You people are just jealous because they're so freaking pretty! The Cullens are no different than you or I, so why do you treat them like they're some kind of monsters? It's just mean."

"Is there a problem here, ladies?"

I looked up and saw that Coach Clapp was standing beside me, looking down at me with his eyebrows raised.

"No, sir," I muttered, embarrassed. "Nothing at all."

"Good," he said. "Now, for yelling in my gym, you can go outside and run ten laps of the building."

"But it's snowing!"

"You should have thought of that before you started a screaming match in my gymnasium, Miss Swan," he responded. "Now, out you go."

I huffed dramatically, and made my way outside. I began my laps, trying to figure out what had come over me. I usually didn't react to what people said. I supposed it was just my being overtired.

"Hey."

I looked over my shoulder and saw Alice running to catch up to me.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked.

"Coach Clapp sent me out to make sure you were doing your laps," she replied, jogging alongside me. "Thanks for that."

"For what?"

"For that!" she laughed, gesturing towards the gym. "I don't think anyone has ever stood up for any of us before."

"I didn't know you could hear me," I muttered, blushing.

"Oh, believe me, everyone heard you."

"Thanks, that makes me feel better."

Alice laughed again, and continued to run with me.

We ran for a couple of minutes in silence, me puffing slightly, and Alice showing no signs of exertion. Finally, I finished my laps, and we slowed to a walk.

"You didn't have to run with me, you know," I said as we walked back to the gym.

"It doesn't matter," she replied. "I didn't mind."

I shook my head and snorted. "You are one strange girl, Cullen."

She grinned broadly at me, and winked. "You have no idea."

At lunchtime, I was sitting at the table with Angela and Luke and Lauren and Eric, laughing at a crazy story that Tyler had just told us. Bella had been late getting to the cafeteria, and she and Mike and Jessica were still in line to get food.

When they sat down, I realized that Bella had nothing but a can of soda.

"Are you not hungry?" I asked quietly.

"She's not feeling very well," Jessica announced loudly. Bella's face flamed, and she didn't say anything.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked anxiously. "Do you need to go home?"

"No, I'm fine," Bella assured him. "I'm just feeling a little queasy."

Everyone else went back to their conversations, but I stayed out of them, keeping an eye on my sister instead. Although Bella often acted as though she was the older sister, and even though she was old enough to take care of herself, I had always been protective of her. Maybe it was because she was always hurting herself, or maybe it was her quiet naivety, but I had always felt the need to keep her safe. Knowing that she was sick, I was debating whether or not she should go to the nurse. I shook my head; if she said she was fine, then I would believe her. I'd just keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't get worse.

I pretended to be interested in what Mike was saying, but I was really watching Bella out of the corner of my eye. Every couple of minutes, she would glance towards the Cullen's table, and then, as if catching herself, would drop her head back to the table. I looked over and saw that there were now five people at the table. Edward Cullen, who I hadn't seen at school since our first day here, was now sitting with the rest of his family.

"Cullen's back; I wonder where he was." I commented.

"I couldn't care less where he was," Mike replied. "I just wish he would have stayed there."

I shot him a glare, which he ignored, and turned back to my food. I don't know what it was that people said about the Cullens, but their attitude towards them was really starting to get to me.

I watched them for a couple of moments, thinking. Other than their obvious beauty, the Cullens were no different than any of the rest of us. They were laughing with one another, their smiles making them even more stunning, and as I watched, Emmett began to shake the dripping snow out of his hair, making Alice and Rosalie turn away from him to avoid being hit with it. I laughed, and Alice looked up. She couldn't have heard me, but it was as though she had. She grinned when she saw me watching them, and I waved at her.

Edward looked up at that moment, and Bella, who had been watching the table with me, dropped her head so that he couldn't see how red her face was turning. I watched her for a moment, and then it clicked; she liked him! I had never known Bella to like a guy before, so this was a big deal to me. I had an internal freak out, but calmed myself so I didn't embarrass her. I'd talk to her about it later when we got home.

"Edward Cullen is looking at you," Jessica muttered to Bella.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" Bella asked, sounding worried. I frowned; why would he be angry?

"No," Jessica said, sounding confused. "Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," she sighed, laying her head in her arms.

"The Cullens don't like anybody," Jessica told her, sounding as though she was trying to make her feel better. "Well, they don't notice anyone enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him!" Bella hissed without looking up. I chuckled under my breath; she was acting like a third grader with her first crush. Well, I supposed it was her first crush.

Mike drew our attention away from the Cullens by his loud plans to start an epic snowball fight in the parking lot after school. Everyone thought that it was a great idea, but I could see that Bella thought otherwise. Her face was twisted into an almost painful expression. She really didn't like the thought of a snowball fight.

She didn't have to worry, though. As we were leaving the cafeteria, the group of students at the door in front let out a collective groan. When we stepped up, I could see why. During the lunch period, the air must have warmed, because now there was rain falling from the sky, melting the snow that had collected in the morning. Bella looked just as relieved as the rest of the school looked upset. I was on the fence; I didn't love snow, but from my winter in Germany, I had learned to enjoy a good snowball fight. I guess I would have to wait until it snowed again.

I was walking towards the parking lot at the end of the day, completely lost in my own thoughts. Charlie had spoken to someone at work about getting me to take my driver's test, and it was scheduled for Saturday morning. I had spent all last period reading over my 'Rules of the Road' handbook, hoping to memorize it all before then. I was so involved in my own thoughts that I didn't notice someone following me until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Ah!" I cried. I spun around and, completely by instinct, punched the person in the chest. Pain shot through my hand, and I whimpered as I nursed it against my own chest. I looked up into the amused face of Edward Cullen.

"What the Hell?" I snapped. "Why did you grab me?"

"I said your name several times," he replied in a soft voice. "I didn't think you could hear me; I thought that perhaps you were listening to music."

"No, I was thinking about my driver's test tomorrow," I replied. I pulled off my mitten and examined my hand. "What the Hell do you have in your jacket that is so hard?"

"Nothing," he chuckled. "It's just me."

"Well, you shouldn't be so hard," I growled, starting to walk again. Edward kept pace with me.

"Maybe you shouldn't hit people," he responded, sounding highly amused. "It's not nice."

"Well, neither is scaring someone," I retorted.

"I apologize," he said, for once sounding completely serious. "It was not my intention."

I stopped and looked up at him again. "Is there something that you need?"

"I just wanted to apologize for knocking you down last week," he said sincerely. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"No, I was fine," I told him. I found it strange that he would take the time to track me down just to say 'sorry'. "No damage done."

"So you can forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive," I said. "It was an accident. But I need to go; Bella will be waiting for me."

"Yes, of course. I will see you on Monday."

"Bye." I turned and hurried away from him.

Bella was already sitting in the truck when I got there. She had the heater turned on full blast, which I was thankful for. While talking to Edward, I had gotten soaked by the mist that was falling. I hadn't thought to put up my hood, and my hair was wet and stuck to my head. I felt like a very cold, drowned rat.

"Why were you talking to Edward Cullen?" Bella asked as I pulled down the mirror to study my reflection.

"He just wanted to apologize for knocking me down last week," I told her, trying in vain to fluff up my hair. "Maybe I judged him too quickly; he seems nice enough today."

I glanced at her, but my attention was caught by a waving Alice. I looked out Bella's window and smiled, waving back. Bella followed my gaze as she began backing out. At the last second, she slammed on the brakes, sending me forward into the dashboard. I pushed myself up again and looked out the back window; Bella had come less than a foot away from crashing into small Toyota that was behind us.

"You want me to drive?" I asked, glaring at her.

"You don't have your licence," she said quickly, looking directly ahead of her, her face flushing madly.

"Maybe not," I agreed, "but I probably would have noticed the car sitting directly behind us."

"Oh shut up!" she snapped.

As she slowly backed out of the space, I looked at Alice and rolled my eyes dramatically. Both she and Edward laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Accidents**

I woke up the next morning to Bella muttering darkly under her breath as she moved around the room. I kept my eyes shut for another couple of minutes, but the room was filled with bright, white light that somehow penetrated my eye lids. Giving up on trying to sleep for another fifteen minutes, I rolled over, away from the window, and opened my eyes. Bella was already partially dressed and was rooting through the closet for a sweater to wear.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I glanced at the clock, and saw that I could have reasonably slept for another twenty minutes or so. "Why are you up so early?"

"I just want to make sure I look decent," she replied absently. She pulled a green knit sweater out of the closet and frowned. "When did I buy this?"

"You didn't," I replied, rolling out of bed. "It's mine."

"Oh." She threw it on the end of the bed and continued to root. Even though I was slightly annoyed at the early hour, I couldn't help but grin. I knew that she was trying to look good for Edward. I decided, since I had time to spare anyway, that I would help her.

"Hey, Bella, do you want me to do your make-up for you?" I asked, going to my little make-up box on the corner of the desk.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, we have some time to spare," I responded, going through the colours. "And you never do it yourself; I just want to see how you would look."

She thought it over for a minute, but I knew that her desire to look good would eventually overrule any anxieties she had about trusting me to do it.

"Alright," she finally agreed. "But not too much. I don't want to end up looking like a clown."

"Have faith, little sister," I cried, grinning at her. "And sit down; this won't take long."

She did as I told her, and a few minutes later, I was done. I stood back to admire my handiwork and smiled. Luckily, she and I had the same ivory-toned skin, so my foundation matched her skin perfectly. I used very little, though, just enough to smooth out her skin, and then added some colour, a little brown on the eyes, a little pink on the lips, and a thin line of black liner. Not too much, but just enough to enhance her already beautiful features. I didn't give her any blush; she was embarrassed easily; she would provide her own cheek colour.

"Are you done?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"I sure am," I grinned. "Here, take a peeksie."

Bella took the small handheld mirror that I was holding out to her and examined her reflection. She gasped.

"What?" I asked, honestly a little worried. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," she replied, sounding a little dazed. "But I look…_pretty_."

I rolled my eyes. "Bella, you always look pretty. I just made you stand out a little bit. Now, you're beautiful."

"Thank you."

I smiled again. "No problem. Now get out of my way; I have to get myself ready."

Walking out the front door, I understood why Bella had been cursing. The ground was covered with about an inch or so of soft, fluffy snow, but the rain from yesterday had frozen, leaving behind a glittery winter wonderland. It was stunning, but for Bella, it was terrifying. If I was being honest with myself, the thought of trying to walk across the ice-coated yard to the truck was more than a little daunting. I walked behind her, making sure that she didn't fall. I wasn't sure exactly what I planned to do if she did, but I still walked closely to her. She almost slipped as we made it to the truck, but managed to catch herself on the side mirror.

Once she was safely in the truck, I hurried around the front of it and hopped into the passenger's seat. I didn't seem to have too much trouble walking on the ice, but then again, I had never been as accident prone as my sister.

We drove slowly to school, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I was thinking about how I hadn't spoken to Brigit for several weeks; I wasn't even sure I had told her that I was moving states. I would have to call her later that afternoon.

When we got to school, I hopped out of the truck and hurried towards the library. There was a book that I needed to get for a History assignment that was due on Friday. Bella got out slowly, and made her way to the back of the truck. I waved to her and began shoe-skating across the icy parking lot.

I was halfway across when I heard the screeching of tires. My head shot up, and I saw a dark blue van sliding out of control, heading directly towards me. With a gasp, I threw myself sideways onto the pavement to get out of the way, and watched as it flew past me, missing me by mere inches. I looked to make sure that no one else was in its way, and the bottom dropped out of my stomach. Bella was standing at the back of our truck, watching with horror as the van skidded across the parking lot. She stood frozen in place, unable to move out of the way.

"Bella, move!" I screamed, scrambling to get back to my feet. An instant later, the van had smashed hard into the back of the truck. Bella was nowhere in sight.

I started to run towards the truck, but Alice was suddenly by my side, holding me back. I tried to throw her off me, but she was holding on too tightly.

"Stay here," she said quietly to me. "Just stay out of the way."

"Fuck off, Alice! Let me go!" I screamed. Her grip loosened, and I ripped my arm out of her hand as I dashed across the parking lot.

I felt sick as I shoved between the van and the end of the truck, terrified at what I was about to see. Bella was lying on the pavement, looking dazed, but all in all, unharmed. Edward Cullen was sitting with her, talking to her in a low voice.

"Bella!" I cried. I climbed awkwardly over the hood of the van, completely ignoring whoever was driving, and knelt down by my sister. "Bells, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied in a flat voice. I threw myself at her, wrapping my arms around her tightly. She looked at Edward and frowned. "How did you get over here so fast?"

Edward's face instantly changed from a look of concern to a cold mask. "I was standing right next to you, Bella."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but there was suddenly a large crowd surrounding the scene of the accident. People were screaming and crying, yelling at each other, and at us.

"Don't move," someone yelled.

"Someone get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shrieked. I couldn't fully appreciate the chaos that was going on around me; I was too relieved that Bella was okay.

Bella tried to get up, but Edward put a hand on her shoulder and told her to stay put.

"It's cold," she complained, and I laughed, shaking my head at her. After all that had just happened, all she was worried about was the cold.

After a moment, she looked up at him. "You were over there. You were by your car."

Edward's expression hardened again. "No I wasn't."

I frowned at him. He had been; I'd noticed him and Alice talking together as I hurried across the parking lot. Come to think of it, how had Alice gotten to me so quickly? I was just as confused as Bella looked.

"I saw you," she said stubbornly, glaring at him. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene.

"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." He looked at her intensely, as though trying to communicate something to her, but she was having none of it.

"No." She crossed her arms over her chest and refused to look away.

"Bella, just drop it," I said gently. "We'll deal with it later, okay?"

She looked at me, and nodded slightly. I could hear the sounds of sirens moving in closer, and I knew that someone had called the ambulance. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered if Tyler was okay, but I was more interesting in Bella, so I didn't look.

It took six EMT's and two teachers to move the now-empty van far enough away from us to get the stretchers in. Edward refused his, and Bella tried to do the same, but Edward told them that she had hit her head pretty hard on the pavement. One tried to look at me, but I brushed him off.

"I'm fine," I said, watching as they attached a neck brace onto my sister. "I wasn't here when it happened."

"Then how did you get here?" he asked, looking confused.

"She jumped the hood," Edward explained.

"You look pretty beat up," the EMT pressed.

"I'm okay," I snapped. I was too worried about Bella to care about myself. "It's just a couple of scratches."

He gave up on me and went to help with Bella.

Bella's face was redder than I ever remembered seeing it as the EMT's started to load her into the ambulance with what looked like the whole school watching solemnly. I couldn't blame her; I wouldn't have been mortified, too. To make matters worse, Dad arrived on the scene before they could get her into the ambulance.

"Bella!" he cried, pushing through the crowd of people.

"I'm completely fine, Char — Dad," she sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Dad turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. He got in the ambulance and went to the hospital with them.

"Alright, guys," Mr. Reid, the school principal, called as the ambulances left the premises. "Everyone can go home. I think we've all had enough excitement for one day."

Everyone began to talk at once, and hurried to get into their cars. I continued to stand next to the truck while the parking lot emptied. Now that my adrenaline levels had dropped back to normal, I was able to appreciate how close I had just been to losing my sister. Without warning, I sank to the ground and began to sob hysterically. Seconds later, there was a cold, thin arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"It's okay," Alice said soothingly, hugging me close. "She's going to be fine. Everything is okay."

"I know!" I cried, trying to wipe my tears away, but every time I wiped one away, another one slid down my face to replace it. "I know she's okay. It's just…Bella's always been accident prone, but I've never come that close to losing her before."

There was a loud laugh from just in front of me, and I looked up to see the rest of the Cullens standing there, looking at me with expressions ranging from amusement to disapproval. The big guy, Emmett, was grinning down at me.

"Well that was exciting, wasn't it?" he chuckled. "And you almost got hit, too."

I shrugged. "I'm fine."

"I don't know," the blonde beauty, Rosalie said sharply. "You look as though you hit your head pretty badly; maybe you should go to the hospital, too. You might have a concussion."

"Yeah, I was going to go anyway," I replied. "I just needed a minute. Shit! Bella has the keys."

"That's okay," Alice said cheerfully. "You can ride with us."

Rosalie and the other blonde, Jasper, both shot her sharp looks, but didn't say anything as she helped me to my feet. Emmett opened the door for me, and I slid in, quickly followed by Alice and Jasper. Emmett jumped into the driver's seat and Rosalie sat shotgun.

When we got to the hospital, I was surprised to see that the rest of the school seemed to be there, as well. They all spoke to me excitedly, wondering how I was feeling, and that I looked like I had hit my head pretty hard. I didn't know what they were talking about, as I felt perfectly fine. I went to the desk and asked where Bella was.

"You'll just have to wait in the waiting room with everyone else," she said sharply, as though she had already said this many times. "It's family only."

"But I'm her sister," I pressed.

"I've already had people trying to tell me that they were her cousin, her brother, her boyfriend, etc." she snapped. "Now go sit with the rest of your classmates."

"But she is Bella's sister," said a soft voice from behind me. The nurse at the desk looked at whoever it was and blushed. I turned and saw Jasper standing there.

"Oh, well, in that case, go on in," she said, pointing down the hall. "It's the third door on the left."

"Thank you," I said to Jasper.

He smiled at me. "You're welcome."

I hurried down the hall to where the nurse had directed me, and I opened the door to find that Bella and Tyler were both lying on hospital gurneys, and Edward was sitting on the edge of Tyler's bed, talking to my sister.

"Hey!" Tyler grinned when he saw me. His grin faded quickly when I glared at him.

"Don't you, 'Hey' me," I snapped. "I came very close to losing my little sister today because of you."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I don't know what happened; I just lost control."

"Well try not to next time," I snapped again. I walked around to sit next to Bella. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she sighed. "I wish I could just leave."

The door opened again, and a doctor walked around the corner. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, and then looked again, stunned. He was young, he was blond… and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with circles under his eyes. I assumed that this was Dr. Cullen.

"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Bella said, sounding exasperated.

He looked at me and smiled. "Should I assume that you're Libby?"

"Yes," I replied, surprised that he knew my name. "How-?"

"Alice told us all about you," he explained. "She seems to like you a lot."

"Oh, well, I like her, too." I didn't really know what else to say.

He smiled at me again and walked to the light board on the wall over Bella's bed, and turned it on. I jumped up off the bed so that he could examine her without me being in the way.

"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine," Bella repeated with a sigh, throwing a quick scowl toward Edward.

The doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along her skull. He noticed when she winced.

"Tender?" he asked.

"Not really." I rolled my eyes. Bella trying to play brave.

I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Edward's patronizing smile. Bella's eyes narrowed and she glared at him.

"Well, your father is in the waiting room — you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."

"Can't I go back to school?" Bella asked, sounding hopeful.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

She glanced at Edward. "Does he get to go to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said, grinning smugly at her.

"Actually," I corrected, grinning, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."

"Oh no," Bella moaned and covered her face with her hands.

Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"

"No, no!" she insisted, throwing her legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. Too quickly— she staggered, and Dr. Cullen had to catch her. He looked concerned.

"I'm fine," Bella assured him again.

"Don't worry," I grinned. "Her balance problems have nothing to do with the accident; those have always been present."

Bella glared at me while both Edward and his father chuckled. I smiled back at her as sickly sweet as I possibly could.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he let go of her arm.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," Bella insisted.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Cullen said, smiling as he signed her chart with a flourish.

"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," she stated, staring at the boy in question.

"Oh, well, yes," Dr. Cullen agreed. He looked down at the papers on the clip board in front of him and walked to the next bed, where Tyler had been listening to our conversation. Bella's eyes narrowed and I could almost see the cogs working in her head as she thought hard about something.

"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts.

As soon as the doctor's back was turned, Bella moved to Edward's side.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she hissed under her breath. He took a quick step back from her, his jaw suddenly clenched.

"Your father is waiting for you," he said through his teeth.

Bella glanced at Dr. Cullen and Tyler, and then back to Edward.

"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind," she pressed.

He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. Bella nearly had to run to keep up. I watched as they turned the corner and disappeared.

"I'll just wait here!" I called, knowing that they wouldn't hear me. Dr. Cullen did, though, and he smirked at me.

"They'll just be a second," he told me. "Why don't you have a seat and wait for them."

I nodded and took a seat on the bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he looked me over. "You look pretty banged up."

"Just scratches," I assured him. "I had to dive to get out of the way."

"I'm so sorry," Tyler apologized again, staring at me with sad eyes. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I know."

"So, Alice says that you're from Phoenix?" Dr. Cullen asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "You wouldn't know it to look at me, though. I'm as pale as a vampire."

The doctor choked out a laugh, and smirking, said "I don't think you're quite that pale."

"If not, then it's very close." I looked down at my arm. The skin was so pale that you could very clearly see the blueness of my veins snaking up my arm.

"So, how are you liking it here in Forks?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I like it," I replied, pushing my sleeve back down. "The people are really nice, and I don't have to worry about getting burnt."

"That you do not," he agreed. "We see the sun very rarely in this town."

Just then Edward stormed back towards us, looking furious. He stopped long enough to mutter something to his father, and then continued out the door. A moment later, Bella came back, walking stiffly and looking confused.

"Are you okay?" I asked, worried.

"Fine," she replied, not looking at me. "Let's go home."

I stood up and followed her to the door. I stopped just before walking out. "It was good to meet you, Dr. Cullen."

"And you," he replied. "I hope to see you again, soon."

I glanced at Bella and sighed. "Chances are you'll be seeing us pretty often here."

"Well, I hope not too soon," he said. I waved goodbye, and followed Bella into the waiting room.

Dad had met Bella just on the other side of the doors in the waiting room.

"What did the doctor say?" he asked anxiously.

"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home," Bella sighed. She saw that Mike and Jessica and Eric were all making their way over to where we stood. "Let's go," she urged.

Dad put his arm behind Bella's back and led her out the door. I waved at our classmates as I followed close behind my family, and quickly explained that Bella was completely okay before running out of the hospital.

The truck was already sitting in the yard when we got home. I frowned when we saw it.

"Bella, is there another set of keys to the truck?" I asked.

"No," she replied, sounding distant.

"Do you have them?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys.

"Then how-?"

"Umm…you'll have to call Renee," Dad said guiltily when he stopped the car.

"You told Mom!" Bella gasped.

"Sorry."

She got out of the car, slammed the door harder than was necessary, and hurried to the house.

"What's wrong with her?" Dad asked, opening the back door to let me out.

"It's just not been a good day," I said. "Hey, Dad, do you know how the truck got home?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "No idea. I have to get back to work. I'll see you girls when I get home."

"Alright."

I began to walk towards the house when Dad called to me. I turned to look at him.

"Keep an eye on her, will you?" he asked, glancing at the kitchen window, where I could see Bella on the phone, presumably with our mother.

"Always do," I smiled grimly. "Don't worry, Dad. I got this."

He nodded, and got back into the cruiser and drove away. I watched him go and then went inside.

"I'm perfectly okay, Mom," Bella was saying as I pulled my jacket off and hung it up. "The doctor said I didn't even have a concussion. Everything is fine." She listened to what Mom was saying, and rolled her eyes. "No, Mom, I'm not coming home. I'm fine. I promise. It was just a little accident. I promise that I'm okay." She listened again, and then sighed. "Yeah, she's right here. I love you, too, Mom." She took the phone away from her ear and held it out to me. "She wants to talk to you."

I sighed and took the phone. "Hello?"

"Elizabeth," Mom said, sounding as though she was crying, which she probably was. "Tell me the truth; is your sister okay?"

"Yes, Mom," I assured her. "I was there when the doctor saw her; she's fine. She hit her head pretty hard, but he told her that she didn't even have a concussion."

"And did he seem reliable?" she questioned. "You know how stupid some doctors can be."

"He was great, Mom," I said, looking through the cupboards for something to eat. "Dad says that he's the best doctor that Forks has ever had."

She continued to question whether or not she should take Bella and me home, but, with some quick words, I managed to talk her down from the ledge. Finally, she seemed calm enough to get off the phone.

I made a quick meal of spaghetti and meat sauce, with some garlic bread and Caesar salad, and when it was all done, I went upstairs to get Bella. I walked into the room and saw that she was curled up on top of the blankets, fast asleep. I quickly made sure that she was just sleeping, and then took the old quilt from the back of the rocking chair and covered her up with it. Then I went down to wait for Dad to get home.


	4. Chapter 4

**My Best Friend is a Vampire**

The next day at school was a mixture of amusing and annoying. It was amusing because Tyler had decided that the best way to apologize to Bella was to take her out; somehow, in his little head, that made up for almost killing her. The attention that he was lavishing upon her, however, was nothing compared to that of the rest of the school. Her lucky escape had made her even more of a celebrity in the school, and she was visibly uncomfortable with it. I, on the other hand, thought it was kind of funny.

It was annoying because Tyler seemed to think the same towards me, and was doubling his efforts. I was annoying because I, too, was now receiving more attention than I had already got. It was impossible to walk through the halls without having to stop to tell people that both you and your sister were completely fine. I was late to three classes that day, but the teachers weren't even mad; they just wanted to make sure that I was okay. And it was annoying because, although Bella had been in the most danger, I was more roughed up than she was. All she had to show was a slightly bluish bump on her temple which was mostly covered by her hair. The palms of my hands were scraped pretty bad, making it hard to hold a pencil. There was one long cut down my cheek, but it wasn't deep, so I hadn't needed stitches and I knew that it wouldn't leave a mark. And when I woke up that morning, I found that I was covered in bruises.

The one person that no one seemed to worry about was Edward. I never saw him stopped in the halls by people asking if he was okay. In fact, no one even seemed to realize that he was involved at all. No one else had seen him, either. I knew that Bella wasn't crazy; I knew that he had been several cars away, talking to Alice. What I didn't know was how either one of them had moved so fast. Any time that I had tried to talk to Alice about it, she would quickly change the subject or hurry away from me. I was confused, but I decided not to push the subject.

For my eighteenth birthday, Mom and Phil had gotten me a brand new, top of the line, digital camera. In Phoenix hadn't really had a chance to use it; I didn't want to waste a whole lot of time taking pictures of the city. Forks, I had decided, would be a great place to start a photography portfolio. The scenery was beautiful, it was all new to me, and I knew that Mom would want some proof that we were having at least some fun here. Dad had told me that there were some great views down in La Push, and that he would take me with him the next time he went down. I had decided to try the camera out on my new friends before going all the way to La Push only to find out that it didn't work.

"Hey, guys," I said at lunchtime. The whole group looked up as I walked towards them. "I think it's about time that I got some pictures of y'all."

"Yeah, that's cool," Mike said, crowding closer to Bella. "Everybody gather in."

I grinned as everyone got up from their place at the table and moved in closer for me to take the picture. Bella stayed in her seat and everyone crowded around her and Mike and Angela.

"Say cheese!" I smiled, snapping the picture. "There, all done."

"Come sit, Libby," Luke said, patting the seat beside him.

I walked around the table and was about to sit when I saw Alice looking at me. I smiled at her, and started to walk over to her.

"I'll be back in a minute," I said. "I need to get a picture of Alice."

"What?" Lauren scoffed. "What are you going to do, just walk over there and tell them that you need a picture?"

"Um…yes?" What the hell else was I going to do?

"Ha," she laughed harshly. "Good luck with that."

I rolled my eyes and continued across the cafeteria.

"Hi," Alice called when I was within hearing distance. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking pictures of my friends," I replied. "Mom wants to see who Bella and I are hanging out with. Can I get a picture of you?"

"Sure," she grinned. "Here, Rosalie, take a picture of the two of us."

She took my camera from me, and handed it to Rosalie, who scowled, but took it anyway. She turned the camera to Alice and I, and we stood together, smiling. Alice wrapped her arm around my waist and pulled me closer. She was icy cold, but I was used to that by now, so I hardly even noticed. Rosalie took the picture, and handed the camera back to me.

"Thanks," I smiled at her. "Do you think that I could get a picture of the rest of you? Mom isn't going to believe that anyone could be as pretty as you guys unless she sees it for herself."

The frown on Rosalie's face was replaced by a small smile, and she nodded. All five of the Cullens stood together, and I snapped a quick picture of them.

"Thanks, guys," I grinned. "I'm going to go eat now."

"Bye," they all waved as I skipped back to the table.

"I can't believe that they said yes!" Lauren said, looking annoyed. "They're just always so stuck up."

I ignored her and sat down to eat.

At the end of the day, I hurried to the truck, making extra sure that there was nothing coming. As I was about to step off the sidewalk, I felt a hand grip my shoulder.

"Ah!" I cried, spinning and swinging my fists.

"Ouch!" Tyler yelled, holding his already bruised and scraped cheek. "Why did you hit me?"

"Why do you people here insist on scaring me?" I snapped. I felt a little bad for punching him, but not really.

"I didn't mean to."

"Did you need something?"

"Yeah," he said. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me."

I frowned. "Isn't it a girls' choice?"

"Oh, sorry," he grinned cheekily. "Would you like to take me to the dance?" He looked down at me as though already knowing that I really wanted to go with him. He was wrong.

"No thanks," I replied. "I think that I was going to ask Luke to go, actually."

The smirk left his face instantly, and that skin which wasn't already purple with bruising turned red. "Oh, okay, then." He turned on his heel and walked stiffly away from me. I shook my head and hurried to the truck, almost bumping into Eric on the way.

"Sorry," I called to him, but he didn't seem to notice me.

I crawled into the truck to find an extremely aggravated Bella. "What's up?"

"Nothing," she snapped. "Boys are just so….urg!"

I smirked to myself, but said no more.

She pulled out of the parking space, but stopped when we were out. Edward had pulled out and was waiting in the driveway for his siblings, who were still a decent walk away.

"What is he doing?" I asked, more than myself than to my sister, but she answered anyway.

"He's trying to annoy me to death," she growled. The people in the car behind us honked their horn, and Bella bristled. "Can't you see this isn't my fault?"

I smirked, and looked out my window.

There was a tap on Bella's window, and we both turned to see Tyler standing there. Bella rolled down her window to talk to him.

"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." She was very obviously annoyed and trying not to show it.

"Oh, I know — I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.

I looked at him, surprised. There was no way that he was going to ask her, was there?

"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.

Yep, there it was. I stared at him, completely disgusted. What kind of person asks someone out, and then asks her sister out not five minutes later while she's sitting right there?

"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." She sounded as though she were trying to keep her patience.

"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted.

"Then why -"

He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."

"Sorry, Tyler," she said, not sounding the least bit sorry. "I really am going out of town."

"That's cool. We still have prom." He looked up and noticed me sitting here, and grinned at me. "Hey."

I was so disgusted that I couldn't even reply. I turned my attention to the Volvo in front of us, which was now in the process of being occupied. Emmett grinned and waved at me, and, as annoyed as I was, I couldn't help but smile back at him. He was a strange boy; he was huge, and looked as though he could take on a grizzly in the spring, but when he smiled, he reminded me of a small child. He just looked so sweet. I definitely wanted to get to know him more; I wanted to get to know them all.

When we got home, I hurried to the computer. I wanted to upload my pictures of the day to Facebook, so Mom could see them. I sent a quick message to Brigit, to tell her to call me when she woke up for school, and then went downstairs to work on my homework.

I was watching TV with Dad, dozing off to the late night football game, when my cell phone began to ring. I jerked myself when I recognized the ringtone, and answered it hurriedly.

"Hey!" I cried cheerfully.

"Where the Hell are you?" Brigit screamed in German.

I switched languages, too. "I'm in Forks," I replied, getting up off the couch and hurrying to the kitchen so that I wouldn't disturb Dad. "I'm living with my Dad for a while."

"Leave!" she hissed at me. "Please, Libby, I'm begging you, please go home!"

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" I asked, worried about her. Brigit was never one to go overboard on the drama; she was simple and quiet.

"I'm telling you now," she said, sounding as though she was trying to calm her down. "You need to leave this 'Forks'; as soon as possible."

"Why?" I asked. "Brig, can you just tell me why? You're starting to worry me, love."

She paused for a minute before lowering her voice and whispering, "You have to promise not to tell anyone that I told you."

"What?" I asked, growing more confused by the minute. "Told me what?"

"Promise!"

"Okay, okay," I said hastily. "I promise that I will not tell anyone what you are now about to tell me."

"Those people," she said quietly. "The beautiful ones…"

"Oh, those are the Cullens," I told her. "The little black-haired one is Alice; she and I are pretty good friends. Aren't they so pretty? It's insane; it's like they're not even human."

"They're not." She spoke so quietly that I wasn't sure whether I had actually heard her or not. I waited, listening to her laboured breathing until she spoke again. "Libby, please leave, before it's too late."

"Too late for what?"

"Those people," she said again. "The beautiful ones…they aren't human."

"Then what are they?" I was getting annoyed. My friend never acted like this; I couldn't figure out why she was acting this way now.

"They are _Blutsauger,_" she whispered. "Vampires."

I couldn't help myself; I let out a great snort and began to laugh hysterically. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked her between gulps for air.

"I'm serious!"

"That was funny," I chuckled, wiping away a tear.

"Your friend, Alice," she said darkly. "She is very small; but I am thinking that she is very strong. And fast too, right?"

I stopped my pacing, the smile draining from my face. How did she know that?

"And she has pale skin," Brigit continued. "Is she cold? Or has she even touched you?"

"Brigit…"

"Ask her," my friend interrupted. "If you are friends, than you should be fine. But don't say that I didn't warn you."

She hung up, and I slowly slipped my phone back into my pocket, my mind running wild. Could she have been telling the truth? How could she have known all of that about Alice?

I trudged up the stairs to bed, my mind whirling. Was it even possible?

I crept into my room and slipped under the covers without bothering to change into PJ's. Bella was already fast asleep, and I didn't want to wake her; I was too busy thinking to try to talk to her if she woke up.

I spent all night wondering about Alice's peculiarities. She _was _very strong and fast. She _did _have pale, icy skin. She, the entire family, skipped school on days where the sun was shining; they told everyone that they were going camping or hiking, but maybe there was another reason. And then there were her eyes, something that had me completely fascinated. I was a very observant person, and it seemed to me that her eyes changed colour every day. At six o'clock, I gave up on trying getting any sleep at all, and I got up to shower.

I was sitting at the kitchen table when I decided to call Brigit back. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. It rang twice before she picked up.

"Starting to believe me, are you?" she asked.

"I need you to answer my questions," I said. "Why can they go out during the day?"

"I don't know," she replied, sounding confused. "I've always been told that they can't come out in the sunlight."

"Well maybe that's it," I said. "There's no sun here; it's always raining. Maybe it's just the sun that burns them."

"Maybe,"

"Why do their eyes change?"

"Do they?" she asked. "I didn't know that."

"How did you know about them?"

"My Nana," she replied simply, and everything made sense. Nana von Haussen was the strangest, most mysterious old woman that I had ever met in my life. She knew about everything.

"And how does she know?"

"I don't know."

"Well, thanks for the help," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not an expert!" she snapped. "Now please, just pack up your things and go home."

"No," I told her. "I'm going to talk to Alice today."

"You're what?!"

"I'll be fine," I assured her. "I'll ask her out in the open so she can't do anything to me."

"Elizabeth!" she cried. "You can't -"

I heard Dad's heavy footfalls as he made his way down the stairs. "I have to go; I'll call you tonight. Bye."

I hung up the phone as Dad walked into the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks and looked at the clock. Then he looked back at me and frowned.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked.

"Just great," I said. "I'm doing fine. Why?"

"It's a quarter to seven," he said. "And you're completely ready for school."

"I couldn't sleep," I shrugged. "Thought I may as well get up and get ready."

He nodded, and began cooking breakfast.

Bella was still in a bad mood when she woke up, but I was so distracted that I barely noticed her. I was resolved to speak to Alice today, but that didn't mean that I wasn't scared. I had a hard time keeping my hands from shaking noticeably; I didn't want Dad or Bella asking questions.

"You sure you don't want to eat anything?" Dad asked as he watched me pace around the kitchen. As inconspicuous as I was trying to be, I had a lot of nervous energy to get rid of, so it was impossible to sit still. And my stomach was queasy from my nerves; I knew that it wasn't going to be possible for me to eat.

"Yeah, I'm not hungry," I assured him. "I'll bring something with me to eat later."

He nodded. "Alright; just don't make yourself sick, understand?"

I nodded solemnly at him, knowing what he was speaking of. In my freshman year, I had developed an eating disorder, and had managed to keep it from my mother and sister until I had gotten so malnourished that I had to be hospitalized. Dad had been an emotional wreck, and had been worried about me ever since. I was still thin, but not sick-looking.

"Let's go," Bella said, dumping her dishes into the sink. "I want to get to school."

I nodded, and walked slowly after her.

For my first two classes, I sat quietly, not talking to anyone, and doodled in my notebook instead of taking notes like I was supposed to. I was too preoccupied with my upcoming conversation with Alice to take time to do or think anything else.

When I finally got to gym class, I was close to hyperventilating. I stood outside the locker room, breathing deeply and trying to slow my breathing and calm my heartbeat, letting other people go in ahead of me. A few of the girls looked at me funny while they passed, but I supposed that there was something in my face that stopped them from asking questions.

Finally, I took a deep breath and threw myself into the room. The door banged against the wall as I walked in, and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at me, but the only person who I noticed was Alice. She was standing at the far end of the locker room, already fully dressed, looking at me with a quizzical expression. I felt my face flame and my heart begin to hammer, and I lowered my gaze and hurriedly got changed for class.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked as everyone else left. "You seem a little tense."

"I'm fine!" I exclaimed loudly as I yanked my gym shirt over my head. "Everything's just great."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." I was completely aware that my voice had moved several octaves up the scale, but there was nothing that I could do about it. I was more than a little bit scared to be left alone with her now that I had my suspicions about her humanity.

"Okay, then." She looked confusedly at me, and then sat down to wait for me. She waited with me until I was changed every day, and I had never felt more awkward before in my life as I did in that moment.

I hurried out of the locker room and into the gym where everyone else was already starting their warm-ups. I joined in, and Alice kept pace beside me. She started her usual non-stop chatter, but I couldn't make myself act normal, and soon she stopped talking, and sped up to run with Edward. I could see them talking rapidly together, and he glanced back at me, and I felt my face redden. I lowered my head ad kept running.

Changing back into my other clothes, I refused to look at Alice, and instead kept my head down, off in my own little world. I grabbed my bag and was out of the locker room before anyone else.

I had made it halfway across the lawn towards the cafeteria when I heard my name.

"Libby, wait!"

I cringed, but turned to face Alice as she ran towards me.

"What?" I asked, trying to act natural.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked sharply, stopping in front of me.

"Nothing," I replied, turning to walk away.

"Oh, no you don't," Alice said, putting a hand on my arm to stop me. "There's something wrong with you, and you're not leaving here to go eat until you tell me what it is."

I looked at her, trying to decide on whether or not to ask while it bit my lip. I had almost decided against it when I looked at her, and saw that she wasn't kidding; she wasn't going to let me leave until I told her what was on my mind.

"I-" I stopped and looked at her, and she arched an eyebrow to encourage me. "Alice, there's something that I have to ask you."

"Okay, ask me," she said, sounding a little more friendlily than she had a moment earlier.

"It's crazy," I scoffed, shaking my head. "So don't be offended when I ask, okay? I wouldn't even say anything, but I promised that I would."

I paused again, and Alice crossed her arms over her chest. "Just say it."

"Are you…" I looked around and saw that we were completely alone outside; everyone else had already gone into the cafeteria. I looked back at her and she looked back at me expectantly. I blurted out, "Are you a vampire?"

Whatever she had expected me to say, it hadn't been that. Her mouth fell open and she stood as still as a statue. It looked as though she wasn't even breathing.

"Alice?" I asked, looking closely at her. "Alice, are you okay?"

"We need to go," she said sharply. She took a firm grip on my arm and began walking quickly towards the woods.

"Where are we going?" I asked, panic starting to well up inside of me. "Alice?"

"Just come on," she said.

I pulled against her, but she didn't let go. She pulled me along as though I was following her willingly, and not being dragged like a rag doll. She dragged me through the trees, not saying a word the entire time. I was starting to think that I had been very stupid; I shouldn't have said anything at all.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Alice, where are we going?"

"Somewhere private," she replied, continuing to walk purposefully away from the school. "Where no one can see us."

She stopped when we were out of sight of the school, letting go of my hand, and turned to look at me. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me with a hard, expressionless face. She stared at me for a minute, not saying a word, and I was beginning to panic internally.

"How did you know?" she asked finally. "Who told you?"

"No one," I responded too quickly. Alice frowned, and I swallowed. "Really, it was no one."

She took a step toward me, and I quickly stepped back, not wanting her to get too close. She seemed to realize that she was scaring me, and she stopped, uncrossing her arms, and her face softened.

"I don't want to scare you, Libby," she said. "But this is serious. We've managed to keep this a secret for years, and now you show up, and find us out. I need to know how you knew."

"So it's true?" I asked, trying desperately to keep my breathing under control. "You are a…a -"

"A vampire," she said softly. "Yes, I am. Now, how did you know?"

"I can't tell," I replied, looking away from her. Somehow, I was starting to feel much calmer. "I'm sorry, but I promised that I wouldn't tell."

"And do you always keep your promises?"

"Always."

"We need to go see Carlisle," she said. "Come with me."

She didn't force me to go with her, but I did anyway. I felt more comfortable with her now; I was _almost_ sure that she wasn't going to kill me. We walked across the lawn to the parking lot and got into the car. She started it, and we left the school parking lot.

"Aren't we going to get into trouble for leaving school," I commented quietly as I buckled my seat belt. "I mean, I know that my dad isn't going to be impressed that I left without permission."

"I think that this is a little bit more important," Alice said, glancing at me. I was relieved to see that she had a half-smile on her face.

"Well, yes," I agreed. "But it's not like anyone else is going to know why I left."

"Carlisle will call the school," she assured me. "You weren't feeling well so I took you to see my dad."

I nodded but didn't say anything else.

I had never driven so fast in a car in my life. Alice made turns sharply, not slowing down the least bit, and I clung tightly to my seat so I wasn't flopping around like a fish out of water. She laughed with every gasp that came from my mouth. Finally, we pulled up in front of the hospital.

Alice led me through the corridors to where I assumed Dr. Cullen's office was. There was a woman sitting at the desk in the waiting room, and she looked up when we walked in.

"Hello, Alice," she said cheerfully. "Dr. Cullen's in surgery right now, I'm afraid. You'll have to come back later."

"We'll just wait in his office, Mae," Alice replied, smiling brightly at her. "He shouldn't be too long."

The woman just nodded and watched us as we walked past her and into the office.

Alice closed the office door behind me and seated herself at one of the two chairs in front of the desk. I looked awkwardly around the room for a minute before slowly sinking into the other.

"Is Dr. Cullen going to be mad that I know?" I asked after a minute.

"Well, he isn't going to be thrilled," she replied, looking at me. She had been staring intently at me since we entered the room, and I was starting to get a little freaked out by it. "But I can't see him being too upset; it is Carlisle, after all."

I nodded, and looked around the room some more. There were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on every wall, and every single one of them was crammed to the bursting point with thick medical texts. The walls were painted a very light shade of brown, and it was decorated much more comfortably than most doctors' offices that I had ever seen before, and with Bella as a sister, I had seen a lot of them.

"Dr. Cullen!" I heard the woman at the desk call out. She seemed to be much happier to see him than she was to see us. "Your daughter is here with a friend, sir; they're waiting in your office."

"Thank you, Mae," the doctor replied politely

The door opened, and Dr. Cullen walked in, looking just as stunningly handsome as the first day that I had seen him. He smiled when he saw me, and closed the door softly.

"Libby, how nice to see you again," he said. "I assume that everything is alright?"

I nodded, but Alice spoke up, "Not entirely."

Dr. Cullen frowned and looked between the two of us. He strode to his desk and sat down in the chair on the other side. He rested his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands together before asking, "What exactly is the matter, Alice?"

Alice glanced sideways as me, and sighed. "She knows, Carlisle. She knows what we are."

Dr. Cullen's mouth dropped open and he looked at me as though I had three heads. He tried to speak several times, but was unable to get the words out. He got up from his chair and went to the door, opened it, and poked his head out into the waiting area.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you run down the street for me? I've really been craving one of those chocolate tarts from the bakery. Get yourself one too, they're delicious."

"Yes, of course, sir," she said quickly. I could faintly hear the sound of her footfalls becoming lighter as she moved down the hall. Dr. Cullen shut the door firmly and quickly resumed his seat.

"I didn't know vampires could eat normal food," I said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood in the room.

"We can't," Dr. Cullen replied, looking directly into my eyes. "I just didn't want her to overhear anything."

His eyes narrowed as he studied me. I tried not to show how uncomfortable I was.

"How did you find out?" he asked quietly. "We've been extremely careful; no one in town even suspects that there's something not quite right, and we've been living here for two years. You just moved in; you've been here for less than a month, and somehow you figured it out. _How_?"

I bit my lip, wondering whether or not to tell him. On the one hand, I had promised Brigit that I wouldn't tell anyone that she had told me, but on the other hand, I felt as though I owed him. Dr. Cullen's face was twisted into a mask of fear and confusion; neither of them managed to detract from his beauty.

"I'm not supposed to tell," I said quietly. "I promised I wouldn't."

"I know you did," he soothed. "But if there's someone out there who knows what we are, then I have to know."

"She's not from here," I said quickly, looking at him. I glanced at Alice, and she and Dr. Cullen both were both fixing me with the same intense gaze. I shook my head, and said, "If I tell you, do you promise not to hurt her?"

"We wouldn't hurt anyone," Dr. Cullen assured me. "But, please-"

"Her name is Brigit Bauer," I explained. "I met her last year when I lived in Germany. She was my best friend."

"And how did she know about us?" Dr. Cullen looked confused.

"I took pictures yesterday in school, of all of my friends," I told him. "Mom has wanted to see pictures of all of the people that Bella and I go to school with. I posted the pictures on Facebook yesterday when I got home from school, and last night, Brigit called me. She was panicked, telling me that I had to leave, that I wasn't safe. She was being very secretive about it, but I finally got her to explain what she was talking about, and she told me."

"And you believed her?" Alice raised an eyebrow at me, and I couldn't help but smirk at her.

"No, not right away," I smiled. "I laughed at her for a long time, but then she mentioned things that she couldn't know, and I started to take her seriously."

"What kind of things?"

"The cold skin, the fact that you never went into the sun," I explained. "Your superhuman strength, and the crazy amount of beautiful that you people seem to possess.

"I started to think about it, all of it was true, so I decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask. The worst that could happen is that you could kill me, dump my body in a ditch somewhere and leave." I grinned at Alice, and she grinned back.

"I wouldn't do that," she assured me, leaning over to pull me into a hug. "You're the best human I've ever met."

I scoffed, and pulled away.

"How did your friend know?" Dr. Cullen asked.

"Her Nona is kind of an old witch-woman," I told him. "She knows about everything; like _everything_. It's scary sometimes."

He smiled at me, and then turned to Alice. "Well, Esme and Rosalie aren't going to be happy."

"I don't see why we have to leave," Alice frowned.

"Leave?" I looked between the two of them. "You don't have to leave just because I know your secret."

"I'm afraid that we do," he sighed. "I doubt that you would tell anyone purposely, but things can slip. You might accidentally tell someone."

"I won't!" I jumped to my feet. "I promise; and even if I did, who would believe me?"

"I know you say that now," Dr. Cullen said gently, "but-"

"She won't tell, Carlisle," Alice said, staring off into space. "She's loyal; she'll keep her word."

Dr. Cullen looked at Alice for a moment, and then glanced back at me. He shook his head. "I hope you know what you're talking about, Alice," he said.

She smiled at him. "Of course I know."

Alice stood gracefully, and walked towards the door. She opened it to reveal the woman from the desk standing outside, a small brown paper bag clutched in one hand.

"I have your tart, Dr. Cullen," she said, holding the bag up.

"Thank you, Mae," he replied. Alice took the bag from her and closed the door again. She walked over and handed the bag back to her father before resuming her seat.

"Here," Dr. Cullen said, handing me the bag. "You should eat this. You've had an exciting day; I'm worried that you're in shock."

"I'm fine," I assured him, but he persisted until I took the bag from him. I broke pieces off the tart and ate it slowly, surprised at how good it really was.

"We'll have to have a family meeting," Dr. Cullen said. "And I think that you should be present. That way we can all answer any questions that you have."

"Sounds good," I mumbled through my mouthful of tart. "I should probably get back to school, though. Dad is going to be really mad when he finds out that I skipped."

"Alice will take you home," Dr. Cullen said, picking up the phone. "I will call the school and tell them that you were sick."

"Will they be okay with that?" I asked, standing up when Alice did. "Since you're not my parent?"

Dr. Cullen smirked and shook his head slowly. "Of course they'll be okay with it; I am the doctor, after all."

"Right."

"I'll take her home now," Alice said. "And then I'm going home; you can deal with Rosalie."

Dr. Cullen shot his daughter a sharp look and then dialed the phone. Alice chuckled and walked out of the office. I followed, waving goodbye to the doctor.

That night I went to bed early. I hadn't slept a wink the night before, and all of the day's excitement had me completely exhausted. It was lucky, though. The school called when Dad got home, and he confirmed with them that I was, indeed, sick in bed. I fell asleep to the sound of the television blaring downstairs.


End file.
